Look! It's a teeny tiny Pope!

April 17, 1954

Last week – Battalion came back Monday and so did Regt.  It sho’ was good to see them!  Willie and I went downtown and had a party!

Tuesday Hilde and I went down to the Tuggle’s to dinner.

Wednesday Willie, Bob Walker and I went to the Wittlesbach for dinner.  Then we went by the Mariandal – party!  (That's two parties in 3 days - and I have no doubt there was some serious partying going on at the Tuggle's as well.  I'm surprised she could manage to drag herself out of bed to get to school every day!)

Thursday – 15^th we left for Munich where we spent the night.  Friday morning we left for Rome and it was snowing.  It snowed on us most of the way.  After riding all day and most of the night we finally got to Rome and “sunny Italy”!  But tain’t sunny!  It’s mighty cold.  We are split up into three hotels and we got the worse – Milani (this hotel is still in Rome, or at least one with the same name!  It gets very good reviews these days!).  It doesn’t even have heat!

 On the train to Italy

This money here is almost as bad as in Greece – it’s tremendous – 620 lire to $1.

         This morning we went sightseeing.  We were going to the Vatican Museum, but there was a tremendous crowd so we didn’t get in.  (Mother never was one for crowds, so I'm certain she was the one saying "let's not wait to go into this".)  Later we did go to the Church of St. Peter which is the largest in the world – it’s tremendous and beautiful.  This is where Nero had his circus – chariot races.  St. Peter was crucified and buried here in 1^st century AD.  Constantine built a church here in the 4^th century.  Then Julius II destroyed what was left of it and started the present one in the 15^th century.  It was finally finished in 1612.  Three people worked on it – Rafael and Michelangelo.  Was to have been in the shape of a Greek Cross.

 Crowd at Vatican Museum

We passed the Celestial Palace which is linked to the Vatican.  It was a mausoleum and was used as a fortress during the middle ages by the Popes.

Celestrial Palace near St. Peters

Saw square that used to be used for chariot races.  Now has 3 fountains.  The one in the middle is the largest and represents the 4 rivers of the then known continents.  Went to the Pantheon – best preserved Pagan temple – built by Agripa in 27 BC.  Damaged by fire and restored in 170 AD.  Still remains intact because it became a Christian church.  The only light is a hole in the dome.  First two Italian kings are buried here and so is Rafael.

                                    

                                           Pantheon

Went to Mussolini’s forum where he wanted to hold the Olympic Games in ’48.  Stadium in the back is surrounded by marble statues of athletes donated from the 94 provinces.

 Mussolini's Forum

        This afternoon Peggy, Margaret, Hilde and I went window shopping and nearly froze.  Also got lost several times.

April 18, 1954

It was warmer outside today, but our room is still like an icebox!  (So, interestingly, my experiences with hotels in Europe is that the rooms were hot.  Most places do not have a/c year round, so if it gets warm early, you're out of luck.  Maybe they turned off the heat at a certain time of the year back then.)

Last night we went on a night club tour.  We got on a bus of Danes by mistake.  When the guide found out we were Americans, he nearly had a fit – he didn’t want anyone except Danes!  It was a scream.  We finally got in with a bunch of Canadians and Spaniards.  We rode around the city and went to three night clubs and the last one served us champagne and had a floor show.  Shades of Cairo!  They had a belly dancer.  (I'm just guessing, because it would be for me, but this has got to be one of the highlights of her trip.  Not only is it a party, but it's a RAUCOUS party!!)

Night club in Rome - Story of Beauty party

        After we finally got straightened out, we did enjoy it.  (No doubt.)

 Avenue from St. Peters to Tiber River #2

Tiber River

        This morning we went to St. Peter’s for the Easter Mass.  I have never seen as many people in my life.  There were about 300,000 people.  It was jammed.  The service was outside.  Afterwards the Pope came out on his balcony and blessed us.  It was just like the newsreels.  Never thought I would some day be there.  Oh well!  Jerusalem at Christmas – Rome at Easter.  (So cool that she got pictures.  Oh, look!  It's the teeny tiny Pope! LOL)

Crowd at St. Peters

Mother at St. Peters

Pope Pius XII giving his Easter message at St. Peters

Went sightseeing this afternoon which I’ll write about later.  It’s too cold now.

April 19, 1954

Well, here we are in Sorrento, and we got the dinky hotel again – La Terrazza (Again, this hotel appears to still be there and gets decent ratings!).  We had the funniest trip down!  These Italian bus drivers don’t let a thing stop them – they just go plowing right on through.  If someone does something they don’t like they start yelling at them.  In fact everyone in Italy yells, I think.  This was a holiday and all of the Italians were out in full force.  I believe that they all congregated on the road between Rome and Sorrento.  The roads were jammed.  Every means of transportation was packed and there were loads of people walking.

Drive to hotel at Sorrento

Bay at Sorrento from hotel

Let’s see, I didn’t tell about sightseeing in Rome.

First of all we passed by one of the 4 basilicas in Rome – the largest church dedicated to the Holy Virgin.

Venice Square – at the end of an avenue built by Mussolini.  The Venice Palace is here where Mussolini had his offices.  In this building is the balcony where he made his speeches.  A tremendous monument is here too – to Victor Emmanuel II.  It is the biggest monument in the world and was started in 1885.  It was finished in 1911.  The tomb of the Italian Unknown Soldier is here too.

Venice Palace balcony where Mussolini spoke

Then we went up to Capitoline Hill which is the smallest of the seven hills of Rome but is the most important.  There were 3 pagan temples here – Jupiter, Juno and Minerva.  A citadel was here too.  Michelangelo built all of the buildings in this square.  There is a bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius here.  It is the only bronze statue left.

Capitoline Hill

From Capitoline Hill we could see the Old Roman Forum which was built in the valley of three hills – Palatine Hill where the kings’ palaces were, Esquiline Hill, and Capitoline Hill.  This was the heart of Rome.  Romulus and Remus supposedly started here.  It was built in the 8^th century BC.  One of the temples here was their Fort Knox.  Another was where the Vestal Virgins kept the fire burning constantly.

Roman Forum Palatine Hill

Temple of Vestal Virgins

When the population got too big for this one they built next Caesar’s Forum in the same pattern – temple in the center square, around the temple, and then a colonnade with shops.

Next we saw the Arch of Constantine that was built in 310 AD and is the model of all arches.

Colosseum – Nero died before it was built.  Started in 72 AD and finished in 80 AD.  Martyrs were not killed here.  It was a Flavian amphitheater and was used for gladiator fights.  Titus built it and used 30,000 slaves.

Colosseum

Mother at the Colossuem - but who is that man??

Church of St. Peter in Chains – St. Peter was put in chains twice – once in Jerusalem and once in Rome.  Some brought the two set of chains together and they miraculously merged – so built church.  Michelangelo’s Moses is here – a tremendous statue.  The house of Lucretia Borgia is in this same little square.

Passed the cemetery where Keats’ body and Shelly’s heart are buried.

Church of St. Paul Outside the Gates.  Paul was beheaded near here and his body was buried here so Constantine built the church in 340 AD.  The one we saw is a reconstruction because of fire.  This is one of the 4 basilicas in Rome that have the holy doors that are opened only during the Holy Years.  It was very dark inside because the windows are made of alabaster.  It is dominated by a tremendous mosaic of Christ and the 4 apostles.  It is the 2^nd largest church in Rome.

Inside Church of St. Paul Outside the Gates

St. Pauls Outside the Gates

Catacombs – drove down the old Appian Way which was a military road built in 300 BC.  We passed the Quo Vadis church where Christ appeared to St. Peter when Peter was leaving room so he wouldn’t be crucified.  This is where he talked to him and then returned to Rome.

Catacombs guide in Rome

There are about 40 catacombs in Rome.  They are underground cemeteries where the early Christians are buried.  We went to St. Sebastian, who was a soldier and became a martyr.  St. Paul and St. Peter were both buried here.  It is 8 miles long.  The passages are very narrow and dark.  It would be easy to get lost down there.  Saw some old bones.  About 174,000 people were buried here – 46 Popes and martyrs.  There was a church built over these in the 4^th century.

St. Sebastian

We left this morning for Sorrento.  We passed an aqueduct that was built in 300 AD.  Drove to Naples.  Stopped at Formia for a rest stop on Gaeta Bay – very pretty.

                                Aqueduct near Rome

        Ate lunch at D’angelo in Naples overlooking the bay (this restaurant is still in Naples).  All the way to Sorrento people were out celebrating.

Naples

Stopped at a cameo factory in Torre del Greco, which is famous for its cameos and coral.  Went to Pompeii.  Vesuvius has snow on it which is very unusual for this time of year.  Pompeii was covered in 79 AD.  All in ruins.  As Willie says no whiskey is sold here.  There is a room where they don’t let ladies go in – the house of prostitution.  (Rats!)

Mother at Pompeii

Vesuvius from Pompeii

Then we came on to Sorrento.  Ran into Barbara Miller here at the hotel.